Children consuming more coffee and energy drinks

A new U.S. study has found the amount of caffeine American children and teens consume hasn’t changed since 1999, but how they’re getting it has.

The study found 73% of children consume caffeine on a given day, although there was a slight decrease among children between the ages of two and 11 between 1999 and 2010.

In 1999, soft drinks accounted for the majority of caffeine intake (62%), but that dropped to 38% by 2010. Instead, coffee increased from 10% to 24%, and energy drinks, which were non-existent in 1999, made up 6% of caffeine intake.

The study, which appears in Monday’s edition of the journal Pediatrics, says it’s the first to look at the caffeine consumption of children as young as two since energy drinks came onto the market.